Electrical connectors include connector housings and signal contacts that provide signal connections between electronic devices. Often, crosstalk is produced between adjacent signal contacts when a signal in one signal contact or one differential signal pair induces electrical interference in an adjacent signal contact or an adjacent differential signal pair due to interfering electrical fields, thereby compromising signal integrity. Crosstalk can be a significant concern when the signal contacts are spaced closely together, as crosstalk increases with reduced distance between the interfering signal contacts. One approach to connector design that can be used to reduce crosstalk is to separate adjacent signal contacts or adjacent differential signal pairs in an electrical connector with ground contacts. However, electrical connector design often dictates that the signal contacts should be spaced as close together as practicable in order to reduce the overall footprint of the electrical connector, and thus the overall space occupied by the electrical connector in a chassis or on a printed circuit board.
Accordingly, as high speed electrical systems are designed with smaller footprints and for increasingly higher operating frequencies, high signal integrity electronic communications and the reduction of crosstalk become a significant factor in connector design.